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Term Change Checklist

This page provides tips for faculty starting a new semester from a previous semester.

BACKUP PAST COURSES & SET-UP NEW COURSES

Past courses should never be changed because they are legal records or archives. Once a course ends, the next steps are to back up the course and then copy it to a new term shell or course development shell in Canvas. Please know that when you backup courses, your student and their assignments are not saved in the download file.

REVIEW COURSE MATERIALS AND NAVIGATION

After your course copies successfully, you are ready to prepare for the course in the new term's shell. The list below includes some of the items you need to consider. In addition, you will want to make sure all content is accessible according to ADA requirements.

REVIEW MODULES

Publish all of the individual modules

  • If used, ensure module requirements and prerequisites are set properly
  • Lock any modules you do not wish your learners to view yet. Following the directions to lock the module and set it to unlock automatically on a particular date and time.
  • NOTE: If any modules are unfinished, either lock unfinished module(s) or unpublish the module until needed.

REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS, QUIZZES, DISCUSSIONS, AND GRADEBOOK

Check all relevant settings for assignments, discussions, and quizzes:

  • Setting up Assignment Groups for more accurate grades and setting up weighted grading.
  • directions
  • submission type
  • point value
  • number of quiz attempts
  • availability date
  • due date
  • Note: If you are using weighted grading, ensure the assignment weights align with what you want your grade book to be. You must also set up your Assignment Groups.
  • Note: If you use extra credit, ensure that (1) Your EC score = 0 (so not to penalize people who do not take extra credit) and (2) enable the check next to "Do not count this assignment towards the final grade" (In your datebook, remind yourself to turn this off when working on final grades)

REVIEW STUDENT EXPERIENCE

  • Review course using Student View found on the Home or other pages in the upper portion of the page. You will see the course from the student's perspective and be able to check that all modules/contents are published and updated.
  • If desired, submit assignment(s), or quiz(es) while in Student View to verify that everything is working properly.
  • NOTE: Any assignments or quizzes tested will show up in the Test Student row at the bottom of your Gradebook.

PUBLISH YOUR COURSE/VISIBILITY CHOICES

  • Determine what, if any, materials to keep invisible to students
  • NOTE: You can publish a course, yet have some or all of your material hidden from student view by not publishing Modules, Pages, Quizzes, Assignments, etc.
  • Once your course content is ready, publish your course to open it for student access on the first day of the semester.
  • Review the Course Visibility Setting page for explanations of the visibility settings.

INFORM STUDENTS

  • Your students will automatically have a Canvas account created for them at the time they register. You do NOT need to instruct them how to get a Canvas account.
  • Students will not receive an automatic announcement alerting them to their Canvas course. For that reason, after you publish your Canvas course, the OCC Canvas Support recommends you send a message from the Inbox within Canvas. (This ensures that students unfamiliar to Canvas will get your message.)
  • Here is a sample message:

We are using the Canvas course management system for this course. Please see the OCC Student Help for Canvas link in the Canvas Help menu for help finding your course and confirming your email to receive Canvas notifications.

Your first due date in Canvas for this course is [date 11:59 pm]. I recommend that you log in to Canvas now to read the Syllabus and participate in the Check-in Discussion, which is in the Modules area of the course. The course navigation menu includes links to the Syllabus and to Modules.

HELPING STUDENTS ACCESS YOUR CANVAS COURSE

  • Direct students to log in using either the link in their Coast Canvas home page, coastdistrict.instructure.com (no “www”).
  • NOTE: Students will log in to Canvas with the same login information as their Student Portal.
  • Direct students who have problems logging into Canvas to the OCC Canvas Support
  • Make students aware of the Canvas Support Live Chat which is available to them (and you) 24/7. The contact information is listed under HELP on the global navigation..
  • See the Wait List Students page for important information you may need to know and want to impart to your students.

GENERAL TIPS AND TRICKS FOR INSTRUCTORS

  • Warning: The Reset Course button (in course Settings) will permanently delete all course content and render your course shell completely empty. Use with caution!
  • Conversation messages and announcements are not delivered unless the course is published.
  • Core Canvas Communication Tools
    • Announcements: Broadcast class-wide or course-wide updates, news, and reminders. They support rich text, media, delayed posting, and file attachments.
    • Conversations (Inbox): The internal email-like messaging system for direct, private communication with individual users or selected groups.
    • Discussions: Interactive threaded boards for class-wide or group-based dialogue, brainstorming, and Q&A.
    • Chat: Real-time, synchronous instant messaging for quick questions and live interaction between instructors and students.
    • Conferences (BigBlueButton): A virtual meeting and web-conferencing tool for live classes or group sessions (typically for groups under 100 users) with screensharing.
    • Calendar: Gathers and syncs all assignment, quiz, and discussion due dates, plus scheduled events and appointment bookings, keeping communication tied directly to timelines.
    • Message Students Who: A gradebook-based tool that lets instructors send targeted messages (via blind carbon copy) to specific subsets of students based on submission status or score thresholds.
    • Zoom-CCCD-EDU.zoom.us: LTI available within each Canvas course
  • Use 11:59 pm instead of 12:00 am to indicate a midnight end date. (12:00 am in the first minute of the specified date, not the end of the day.)
  • Remember that students do not have technical support after 5pm weekdays, or over weekends and holidays. Keep this in mind when assigning due dates.